- Another major step towards “Atmanirbhar Bharat”
- The workshop becomes 3rd such manufacturing unit across Indian Railways
South Central Railways has taken one more crucial step in its efforts to take forward the initiative of “Atmanirbhar Bharat” and “Make in India” concept, with the Signal & Telecommunications (S & T) Workshop at Mettuguda by achieving in-house capacity in manufacturing Point machines. The workshop has received approval for manufacturing and supplying Point Machines (of 143 mm and 220 mm). Considering the widespread usage of point Machines in Railways, this is a major feat towards the self sustainability by the Railway production units.
The Point machines are extensively being by Railways across its vast network. They are used for smooth transition of trains from one track to the other. These machines play a vital role in providing a safe mechanism for changing the operation of train movement from one line to another, by securely locking the relevant necessary points, duly ensuring least vibrations for the trains.
Previously, these Point Machines were being manufactured at only two locations over Indian Railways, with the rest being manufactured by Private Agencies. Now, with the initiative taken by the SCR’s Signal & Telecommunications Workshop at Mettuguda, it becomes only the third Unit over Indian Railways having the capability to produce and supply Point Machines (of 143 mm and 220 mm). The benefits of this include: greater availability of Point Machines at lower cost. This also leads to less dependence on external agencies. It will also speed up the efforts to raise the speed of our tracks, as the Point machine - 220mm comes along with clamp lock providing additional safety for trains to operate at higher permissible speeds.
The S & T workshop, Mettuguda has a capacity to manufacture 3,250 No.s per year, each of Point machines – 143mm & 220mm. The production from this unit will be able to cater the requirement of SCR, besides supplying to other Zones. The codal life time of Point machines as per the route is normally 12 years or 3,00,000 operations, after which the replacement is inevitable. Hence, the requirement of point machines is a regular phenomenon in Indian Railways.
Shri Gajanan Mallya, GM, SCR has appreciated the officers & staff of S & T Workshop, Mettuguda and other SCR officials who have been actively involved in developing the manufacturing unit with the in-house resources. He also stated that this indigenously designed point machines by S&T Workshop, Mettuguda depicts the commitment of SCR zone towards encouraging Make in India concept duly evolving to self – sustainability.
